1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bone-marrow extraction and/or injection device and to an extraction and/or injection system incorporating such a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bone marrow is currently extracted by means of a hollow needle (or trocar) presenting an axial orifice through which the bone marrow flows. That type of extraction requires an internal rod (or mandrel) that is inserted into the needle. The function of the rod is to prevent the orifice of the needle from being blocked, in particular by a splinter of bone, during the penetration step in which the needle penetrates into the bone. During the extraction step proper, the rod is removed from the needle and is replaced with a syringe. The user then sucks the bone marrow out by means of the syringe via the orifice of the needle. The sucked-out bone marrow is then transferred into a collection pouch and put into contact with an anticoagulant. Then, the extraction steps are repeated, each time driving the needle provided with the rod further in, in order to collect more bone marrow. That extraction method presents numerous drawbacks. A major drawback is associated with implementing a succession of steps in order to obtain the desired quantity of bone marrow that might be as much as 1.5 liters (L). A typical sequence comprises putting the rod into place, causing the needle to penetrate into the bone, removing the rod, putting the syringe into place, sucking out the bone marrow, removing the syringe, and putting the rod back into place. That sequence needs to be repeated several times. The slow speed and the complexity of the extraction are drawbacks that relate to that type of extraction. That type of extraction mobilizes a large number of people for one to two hours. Generally, one or two doctors perform the extraction, assisted by one or two assistants who are responsible for putting the bone marrow into collection pouches for storage. Another drawback of that type of extraction relates to the successive replacement of the rod with the bone-marrow suction syringe. Thus, the latency time that elapses between removing the rod from the needle and putting the syringe into place means that the bone marrow flowing through the orifice comes into contact with ambient air. Such contact with ambient air can be a source of microbiological contamination of the extracted bone marrow, with the subsequent drawbacks that that implies.